A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 7 by Kazuma Kamachi Page A

building itself had no trace of graffiti or broken glass. Perhaps they’d found a buyer for it and someone came to do periodic maintenance on it.
    When he and Orsola approached, they could see that Hakumeiza was larger than a gymnasium and constructed in a perfect square. Maybe it resembled a famous theater somewhere, and maybe it was just that designing the building had been a pain.
    All right, I guess they’re inside. It’s hot out here, after all.
    He directed his gaze to Hakumeiza’s entrance. It was large, with five glass double doors lined up. There were no boards or anything in the way. It was less of a ruin and more just closed for a while.
    As he thought about this, one of the five doors in front of him opened up.
    “Huh?” he grunted.
    Out of the three that exited, he recognized two of them as Index and Stiyl.
    The last one—he didn’t know her. She was a foreigner who looked a little younger than Index. She was dressed in the same black habit as the nun he’d met at the bus stop. However, this girl’s habit had been made into a pretty small miniskirt—she must have undone the fasteners on the skirt to remove that part. His eyes fell to her feet, and to his surprise, she was wearing wooden sandals with soles thirty centimeters high.
    As soon as Index saw Kamijou, she burst out,
    “Touma, where did you meet that sister?”
    “…That didn’t take long. Anyway—and this question is mainly for the evil priest next to you—but why did you bother with such an elaborate faked kidnapping again? And I would definitely like to know why you made me exhaust myself by walking three kilometers in this insane heat! Please, go ahead! Actually, no—you’re gonna tell me whether you like it or not!!”
    Stiyl turned a tired expression on the shouting Kamijou. “Ah, what? So you knew it was a trick. I wanted to call you out here to get you to help search for someone. I just used the Index of Prohibited Books as a decoy. By the way, this is the one in charge here. She’s Agnes Sanctis, from the Roman Orthodox Church.”
    Stiyl pointed in her general direction with the tip of his cigarette, and the nun wearing the platform sandals bowed and said, “H-hi.” It looked like she was aware already that Japanese people bowed their heads all the time, but her motion was exaggerated, making her look like a hotel worker.
    Kamijou was a little embarrassed at someone he’d never seen before suddenly addressing him. He was currently at max anger, but he couldn’t let himself vent it on someone he had no acquaintance with.
    As if pressing him hard now that his pace had been broken, Stiyl said, “Sorry, but we don’t have time to go along with your nonsense. Like I said before, I brought you here to have you help look for someone. Two hundred and fifty people are looking for her now, and yet they can’t locate her. It’s a race against time. Her life is on the line, so we need you to help us quickly.”
    “Nonsense…? Hey, that’s no way to treat a guest you’re asking for help! Damn it, what is this? What do you mean her life is on the line? Explainit to me! And besides, I’m an amateur! I have no skill at tracking people down! Don’t leave such an important job to a high school student!”
    “Oh, everything is all right. If you just hand over the nun next to you, that’ll be fine.”
    “What?” Kamijou’s eyes became pinpoints.
    Stiyl, who seemed to think this was truly foolish, exhaled cigarette smoke. “That nun is the missing person we were looking for. Her name is Orsola Aquinas. All right, thank you very much. You did very well. You can go home now, Touma Kamijou.”
    “…Excuse me, but I was set up in all this, and in addition to having left the city with a suspiciously acquired Academy City exit permit in one hand, I walked three kilometers when it’s almost forty degrees out. What’s my position in all this?” Kamijou muttered, looking down. However…
    “I already said you did well, didn’t I?